Day 12 - Wednesday - 3/26/25 - Montego Bay, Jamaica

 When our alarms went off at seven this morning, the ship was slowly making its way into Montego Bay. After enjoying a nice breakfast, we gathered up our gear and waited for the announcement that we could go ashore. This came shortly after 8 AM and we scanned off the ship using facial recognition. We walked across the dock and entered the large terminal building which was vacant. All of the tour groups were assigned various areas, and we all formed single lines. Just after 9 AM we were escorted out to our tour bus and 51 of us joined bus number one. There were four buses in total going out to the Dunn's Falls. it was about a 2 Hour drive        out there. About 1/2 hour before reaching the final destination we made a rest stop and it was the last chance to purchase water, shoes and snacks or protective cases for telephones.

Once at the Falls, the parking lot was extremely crowded, but we eventually made it our way to a parking place and exited the bus. This particular event is billed as a total immersion experience involving climbing approximately 1000 feet up a series of waterfalls from the beach up to upper area. We met our guide, Pedro, and after receiving our wrist bands, we were scanned into the park. He then escorted us down to the beach. This route involved a lot of stairs, but it was a beautiful looking beach and we got our first glimpses of the waterfalls that we were about to climb.  We are instructed to form a circle and then join hands as that would be the method we would use to climb the rocks. There were many people ahead of us so we got to see how others did it and we then began our climb.

It was a fun time, climbing the rocks and wading  in the pools and then getting dunked several times. The guide was helpful and provided a welcome hand to climb certain areas and also point out underwater obstacles that we could not see. The water was a bit cloudy, but the temperatures were quite tolerable. The air temperatures were in the low 80s. We were accompanied by a photographer who took stills and videos and at the end we had the opportunity to purchase the package for $43 which we elected to do. This was by far the most adventurous short excursion we have ever taken, and it was really cool despite how strenuous and potentially dangerous it was.

We were among the last back to the bus because we had stopped to order pictures, but once we are on the bus and another family joined us afterwards, the driver headed back to Montego Bay. I would note that this venue is located right outside Ocho Rios, which is another port that we have visited on a previous trip and today the Rotterdam was in port at Ocho Rios. There were also two other ships in Port at Falmouth (a royal Caribbean ship and a Disney ship) which is another port we have visited.

On the way back, we stopped at the same rest stop and were able to purchase some jerk chicken and a patti which looked like an empanada.  The jerk chicken was excellent and it's one of the reasons to come to Jamaica to enjoy the jerk food.

After the rest stop, it was another hour and a half

Drive to the terminal at Montego Bay. Traffic was extremely heavy and we got to experience a new type of passing. Our driver would pull out into the center and start passing vehicles and the oncoming traffic would need to yield onto the shoulder to allow the bus to complete the pass. Essentially, they made three lanes out of two. And this is all done at a roughly 100 km/h closing speeds.

Ar the  terminal we said goodbye to our driver and guide and then scanned the souvenir shops outside the terminal before re-boarding our ship at 4:15. On board time was 4:30 and this is the closest we've cut it on this voyage for being  the last on board.

Since we had not been in saltwater, it wasn't necessary to take a shower, but we shut our damp clothes changed into dry clothes before going out on the 11th deck to watch the sail away.

This was sort of a different sail away in that  the ship moved away from the dock and and then backed down the narrow channel out into the main part of the bay, where it was possible for the ship then to swing around clockwise so that we could then go forward. It was fun, watching it from the outside deck in the warm sunshine. Also we enjoyed some conversation with a couple from New York.  Afterwards the Lido Market buffet served a Caribbean themed meal which was quite good.

Musicology by the Step One Dance Company was the evening entertainment.  It's a well choreographed show paying tribute to musical instruments.  Afterwards we went up to deck nine for carnival type games and a poolside party which was well attended.  It was then back down to deck two for the  two singer pianists were playing to another full house.

Tomorrow we'll tender into Georgetown, Cayman Islands.  We're planning to snorkel at 7 mile beach.,